John Fix 3rd
John Fix 3rd began working part-time at Cornell's True Value Hardware in 1973, joining his father and grandfather in the family owned business which was incorporated in 1909. He has been involved in every aspect of the operation of the hardware store, and now manages the store along with his cousin, Thomas Fix, his sister, Mary Beth Wellington, and his wife, Judy Fix.
John attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and Boston University in Boston, MA. While in Boston, he worked part-time at a local hardware store, primarily to earn some spending money but also to see the business from an employee’s perspective. He graduated from Boston University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting and a minor in Marketing, and headed back to Eastchester to join the family hardware business full-time.
His exposure to computer technology in college encouraged him to install a Triad Computer system at the store in 1982. He later published the Hardgoods Confidential newsletter for computerized hardware retailers, and ran an online bulletin board system for online exchange of retailing ideas. He now maintains the Hardlines Digest forum and web site for hardware and lumber retailers, a retailer to retailer online forum with over 2,000 members.
John's computer background earned him a spot of the True Value POS System Advisory Board for several years. He continues to work with Epicor (formerly Triad/Activant) on alpha and beta testing for new software enhancements for the store Point Of Sale system, and he appreciates the patience of our customers and staff when bugs appear.
In 1995, John established an informational web site for Cornell’s True Value Hardware and began taking online consumer orders via the web in the fall of 1996. John presented a seminar on Internet Retailing at the August 1998 National Hardware Show in Chicago, covering the different ways independent retailers can use the Internet in their business. From May of 1998 through April of 2015 John served as a member of the Board of Director’s for Member Insurance Limited (True Value and Do It Best's joint insurance venture), and from April 2010 through April 2013 he served as Chairman of the Board.
The Fix family sold Cornell’s Hardware to the Aubuchon Company in July 2022, and John now works for Aubuchon Hardware. He has his own personal website which he occasionally (rarely) updates.
